Blast From The Past – Zvonimir Boban

A quick one today. Zvone Boban was one of my favourite ever players (and one of the Football Guy‘s too no doubt), another legend from the days of mid 90’s Serie A. A star for AC Milan for nine years, his unique blend of flair and vision for some reason made me really like him. His performances for Croatia in Euro 96 (along with Davor Suker, who will also star in these pages at some point) and the World Cup in France ’98 brought him to wider attention and I particularly remember how he basically single handedly led Milan to the Serie A title in 1998-99. After Lazio led the race for most of the season, his consistently creative performances coupled with the goals of George Weah and Oliver Bierhoff meant Milan pipped the Biancocelesti to the title on the last day. Seven straight wins at the end of the season saw Boban get his fourth and final title with the Rossoneri and more than any of the previous three he was most responsible for it. Chuck in a Champions League title too and you have one of Milan’s most fondly remembered players.

Awesome

His international appearances were excellent too as a newly formed Croatia played some brilliant football in Euro 96 before he captained them to third place in France 98. He’ll always be a national hero both for that but also for an altercation early in his career with a Yugoslav (Serbian) policeman whilst still playing for Dinamo Zagreb.

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I’ll leave with some greatest hits (of the football kind) from his Milan days. Enjoy…